Belonging At Middlebury

Belonging At Middlebury

The annual Zeitgeist Project found that one in every three Middlebury Students feels a sense of "otherness" as if they don't belong at the college. Aspects that made students feel as though they did not belong included socio-economic status, race, ethnicity, athletics, and sexuality. Money was the largest factor in determining a sense of belonging. This is not exceptionally surprising seeing as "a 2017 study found that ... 76% of students came from families with household incomes in the top 20%". The study also found that white students were the only racial group where respondents did not overwhelmingly report a feeling of otherness.

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Riley Board
Nicole Pollack

The Campus

05/02/2019

Riley Board
Nicole Pollack

"'Middlebury's whiteness and affluence makes me feel othered' one student wrote. 'De facto segregation everywhere I go' another said."

"Sometimes I become a token in class. When I speak, I feel I have to do so in a way that validates my intelligence."

"Another student said being involved in athletics is incompatible with being a minority. 'These two identities cannot be expressed at the same time.'"

"'There are very few spaces at Middlebury where students of color feel welcome' one student wrote. 'Yes, the [Anderson Freeman Center] exists, but if that is the only space dedicated to diversity at Midd, then we need to do better.'"